Wars (NaNoWriMo - 13)

On my way home I bumped into Rick.

"You like to see our training field?"

He looked excited and I agreed. For the first time, I stepped into the world of the Titans. Their houses were built in a robust style but attractive for the eye. In the center was a cooking place and behind the last cottage, they made a training field.

"What is the field about?"

"We need to build our strength, we've been small and lazy for too long."

"What do you mean by lazy, you worked hard, the herbs garden looks great it didn't start itself..."

"Can I tell you a secret?" he whispered with a twinkle in his eyes.

I thought.

"You know a secret is not a secret if more than one knows about it since each one of you hears the unspoken words this means... there are no secrets."

He laughed out loud. It was a burst of infectious laughter, one I still hear if I think of him.

"What about the secret?" I asked as we sat next to each other underneath a tree.

"I thought you never asked."

"That would mean I am the only one not knowing the clan's public secret. I thought I was one of you," I pouted.

"It's magic, that's all. How come you didn't figure it out yet?"

"What is magic?"

"The herbs, the garden, everything even we."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent sweetie."

'Sweetie' he had called me sweetie and it felt great to be called that way by someone else than an adult raising me.

"What will you do?" he asked.

"Do when?"

"If the time is right to leave." Perplex he looked at me, "did no one tell you we will leave?"

I shook my head.

"No one officially mentioned or... invited me to come along. I knew, hoped one of you would. Perhaps Rosemary mentioned it."

Near to him, I felt uneasy and suddenly worried about what would become out of me.

"It's what the training field is for, isn't it? You are not fighting laziness or fat but build muscles to fight the outside world."

He nodded.

"We don't know what we will find out there and if the magic will stay."

"What do you mean?"

"It's after we arrived here we changed. Not only we shrunk but we received certain powers. Powers we all share and some specific ones. We agreed with the terms set by Mother Nature and became her little helpers."

"Terms? What terms?"

"Keeping a part of a sick world clean, providing in nature's healing power, living underground... living solo ..."

He sounded sad and it did not felt as if it was a great deal.

"Was it worth it?"

"It wasn't a bad deal. A safe life, a long life, no hunger but now... Now it's back to reality. Living life in a world different from the one I left, or perhaps not that different at all."

"What do you mean?" I asked alarmed.

"At that time we were hated, hunted, by many who thought we fought against their belief. Today... My guess is religion came to an end but what if the human race didn't change? If they still blame us and hunt for us?"

I thought about the last book I read. The one about religion. From what I understood a certain belief gave hope, hope, and strength, and if you took that away from people they would fight you.

"If you ask me being a Titan is no longer an issue, if that's what you mean. Many years passed by, I am not sure how many but I believe at least thousands of years."

"Thousands of years are you sure?"

"I am not sure but it's what I think. Perhaps the books can tell how many if we can figure out in which year we live now. You could ask Rosemary."

"What makes you think she knows?"

"She has a clock, an inner clock perhaps? She knows when it's my birthday. If she keeps the time she knows and if she doesn't know and the books can't tell, Carmen might know but she didn't return home yet."

I noticed how he bit his lower lip but didn't ask what bothered him. It became clear the man who liked me, really liked me, planned to leave plus he was old. At least over thousand of years old.

"I have to leave now, I like to read a bit."

He nodded and reached his hand to help me stand up and walked me back home. I hadn't answered his question because I didn't know what I would do. Rick asked me to join them and I? I decided earlier to wait for Carmen's return, a return that already happened according to Rosemary.

"Train with us, train with me, tomorrow," he begged as we stood on the patio.

"You see me tomorrow after meridian."

A happy man left as I gave my word. It didn't matter if I left with the clan or stayed. I needed to learn how to defend myself, and knowing how to fight was a part of it.

------

The next book waited for me. So far I read the antique book about herbs and a more modern one about religion. The next was called 'Wars'. The title was short, the book fat. The back of the cover didn't make me any wiser. A photo of a man was printed on it. Underneath stood the text 'If you don't believe me see for yourself'.
See for yourself? What a strange way of introducing a book. I flipped through it to search for photos, drawings about the wars but couldn't find a single one. Most pages turned out to be blank. Did the writer not finish it or was it one of those notebooks in which readers are invited to write their part of the story? I assumed Rosemary read it or at least knew what it contained since she left it for me on the coffee table. A thick but empty book waited to be read or like the author said to be watched.

On the first page was written 'What do you know, really know about battles fought? Take time to think it over and share it with us.'

I thought, thought a lot. Was this about a lazy writer, a sort of interactive book, or a smart way to fool the one who thought he bought something informative? What did I know about wars? Not more than the few I met told. The world I lived in was a good place. No fights, no enemies. A small world indeed but so much better than the one outside. If it came to it we hardly noticed anything about the dark days. Those endless days of suffering, the period death reigned and showed us how tiny we are. Was it the same with wars? As far as I knew I never ended up in one. The only war remembered and spoken about was the fight against Zeus. Rosemary, Basil, Rick, my mother they had a life, a long life, and remembered it. They survived, lived on and prepared, prepared themselves to fight or flee again. Was that what was going on? It was good to be here but they decided to leave, the clan, Carmen... Which battle did they fight for? What about peace? I flipped to the next page.

'We all struggle, have our battle, something we fight for. We love, we hate, we conquer, lose, kill for a single bread in name of poverty, do anything for and destroy in the name of love, our honor, and pride. It is what we call justice. Each story has more than two sides. At whom's side are you?'


To whom's why not which? Which battle I was willing to fight for? The owls I no longer send out. Their well-being meant a lot to me if not the world. I felt closer to them than to the humans in the world suffering from the darkness. I tried to send what they needed but it made no difference. Their battle was not mine. If they showed up I had to defend myself. I assume Carmen would too although she told me to be ready to flee. Rick was the first who told me to prepare differently. Escaping, disappearing was not the answer, a spell, witchcraft, the herbs could fail. How many people fought and won a battle with magic?
I loved Carmen, Rosemary, Basil, the clan that welcomed me, the animals even more, and above all Mother Nature. I had no intention to leave the place I felt at home. Rosemary said I was invited by Carmen, she and my mother by the house. Losing this by leaving on my own meant the portal might not let me in and I became homeless. For sure that was something I hated.

I never killed but I killed mice for the owls. I would kill for food, in case of need, to defend myself or those I loved. It depended on the situation. Giving up on what you have, the fight for a better life isn't as easy as they say.

'The war will not end. Are you ready to fight, fight for your life for the next hundreds of years? Who watches your back in a world ruled by dictators, filled by traitors and mercenaries? To end the war someone has to arise and make a difference. Will it be you?'

Me? It cannot be me I am a child, too young and my knowledge about wars, people, the outside world is zero. How can I fight, decide which side is the right one? There are too many sides, if it came to it we fight for our side only.
My back... Was there anyone who watched it except for those who cared and heard me from the moment I was sold at a marketplace? It wasn't anything to break my brains over. I would watch my own. Hundreds of years is a long fight. I doubted if after a few years people still knew what they fought for if it didn't become a habit, a response of not knowing anything else to do.
The Titans, they knew better. Not one of them was born as a soldier. They fought for their freedom and a loss. They didn't win the battle but lost as many religious people did. Their lives meant nothing to the will of only one. That one made the difference. He didn't bring light but darkness and death over many. I read all about it in the book about religion.

- - - - - - - - -

The witch hunts, stakes... I saw them, heard them, felt it hard to breathe because of the smoke. I felt nauseous due to the scent of burned skin.
The crowd cheered, scolded, threw dirt and rotten food at the defenseless who stood there, tied, said nothing. Men, women, even children set on fire. How come they didn't scream, spoke, prayed, commit their 'sins' as asked?
I tried to walk forward, get closer l to free them. What was going on? Who or what made a society so cruel against their own species, their relatives, neighbors?
My skirt set fire. I needed to find her. No one cared about me. There she was, our eyes met. How relieved I felt.

"Mother!"

"Get out of here, my dear. There's no need to cry we meet again. Stay safe for the sake," she coughed.

A large explosion, followed by a huge energy, blew me away from her and knocked me out.

- - - - - - - - -

Knocked out was how Rosemary found me the next day. Laying on the floor in front of the sofa. The book 'Wars' opened on page three.

"I see you read again," she remarked while she pointed at the opened book, closed it, and lay it on the table. "Be careful with this one. I brought you some herbs. While you get dressed I make us some tea. I heard you join our training tomorrow."

Total amount of words: 2505


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